Across his spells with Manchester United, Real Madrid and most recently Juventus, Ronaldo has flitted between Nike balls in the league and cup and Adidas balls in the Champions League.

There have been no greater alterations in the ball technology over the last six years than there was across the first 12 seasons of Ronaldo’s career, which didn’t affect his proficiency from free-kicks.

Injuries?

Ronaldo has suffered an increase in low body injuries in the time his free-kick taking has waned and it’s feasible that these sustained stresses have negatively impacted his striking technique.

Admittedly, though, this would likely be apparent in other areas of his game, which has not been the case.

Rather, Dr. Brar suspects that the injuries will have hampered Ronaldo initially and the ‘snowballing’ of misses which he wouldn’t have been used to started to affect him psychologically.

A change in routine needed?

Speaking of the mental aspect of free-kick taking, Ronaldo has gotten himself into such a negative cycle, that one of the solutions posited would be to change the routine he’s used for so long.

Ditching the rhythm that may be causing ‘over-thinking anxiety’ would perhaps disassociate Ronaldo with his recent struggles and help him simplify the process down to the essentials.

A positive case study of this tactic is NBA player DeAndre Jordan who, after struggling with free throws with his usual routine, regained his form by trying a new approach.

Only Ronaldo truly knows

Other potential solutions posited by Dr Brar include taking a break from free-kick duties or moving away from the knuckleball technique for a more Lionel Messi-like tactic.

It must be said, the research is fascinating and gives more insight than ever on one of the biggest mysteries surrounding a true sporting great in Ronaldo.

Ultimately, though, even an expert like Dr Brar can only speculate on the strange trend in Ronaldo’s game and perhaps the man himself doesn’t even know why he’s lost his touch.